HUNNEMAN: Tony Gwynn forged a special bond by staying a Padre

I got the news on Monday from my son who had a special bond, and a shared birthday – May 9 – with Tony Gwynn.

In 1999, to celebrate Damon’s 9th birthday, and Gwynn’s 39th, I took him and a few of his friends to watch Gwynn and the San Diego Padres. Damon got his birthday posted on the scoreboard in right field that night, which was a thrill, but the Padres trailed 3-1 heading into the eighth inning.

It was getting late and the boys were ready to head home to Murrieta.

“Hold on,” I told them. “Let’s see if Tony gets up this inning.”

I wanted a chance for my son to experience what I had been watching in San Diego for almost two decades.

Gwynn did come to the plate and lined a single up the middle to knock in two runs and tie the game. Later that inning he scored the go-ahead run in what became a 4-3 win over Atlanta.

“That was cool, Dad,” Damon said as we walked to the car. “I’m glad we stayed.”

I first had the joy of watching Tony Gwynn as a basketball player for San Diego State University. A point guard, Gwynn still holds the Aztec records for assists in a season (221) and in a career (590).

Did I know Gwynn? No, but I was fortunate to meet him about a dozen times.

In the magical 1984 season, when the Padres won their first National League championship, I managed a store in San Diego’s Mission Valley shopping center, a long foul ball away from Jack Murphy Stadium.

Gwynn and many of the other Padres were frequent shoppers at that mall. Most fans didn’t know Kurt Bevacqua from Greg Booker, but everyone knew Gwynn – who couldn’t walk 10 feet without someone asking for an autograph. He always obliged and stayed as long as he could.

The only time I interviewed him was before the 1992 All-Star Game, which was played in San Diego. Gwynn was as accommodating and cordial to me – working at the time for a small Temecula radio station – as he was with any of the national media.

On a couple of occasions Gwynn came to the Diamond in Lake Elsinore, sometimes for an exhibition game and one time when the stadium was used for a television commercial.

On that day in February 2000, we got to chat for a few minutes. One of the pictures posted on our refrigerator is of Gwynn filming that commercial at the Diamond.

In 2002, Gwynn was a coach with San Diego State and the Aztecs played the Storm in Lake Elsinore. I was the public address announcer that night and got to introduce him to the sellout crowd that had come to see “Mr. Padre.”

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